Mbombela - Blood samples have positively linked two suspects to the rape of two women on different farms in Mpumalanga, the Nelspruit Regional Court heard on Tuesday.
The two, Solomon Abraham Nkosi, 24, of Ermelo Trust near Kabokweni outside White River, and Jimmy Mkhabela, 25, of Phola Trust outside Hazyview, pleaded not guilty to nine charges when they appeared in court, a Sapa correspondent reported.
They were arrested in 2011 following farm attacks that took place around White River the same year.
A Pretoria forensic laboratory expert, Warrant Officer Dzunisani Chauke, told the court she found sufficient agreement on this evidence to link Nkosi and Mkhabela to the rape of two victims outside White River in 2011.
The accused each face five charges of rape, one of compelling another person to witness a rape, and three charges of armed robbery.
Magistrate Edward Hall remanded the two in custody and postponed the case to August 5 for trial.
Sapa